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In a moment of reflection, I began considering our land and its predicament. I took myself to the water ritual dais and meditated for a while upon the great axe left there, sunk in the stone, for some foretold ruler whom many now believed would never come.

What to do; what to do?

What to do; what to do? I was no great priestess; I had not been blessed with second sight or any measure of magic.

The power of hope

What I did have, I realised as I stood there, with the mists rising fast around me, was some understanding of and belief in the power of hope.

The moon both rose and fell

At that moment, it seemed that the moon both rose and fell, fell upon me, and if I were sentimental or superstitious, I might say it felt like music, even though it didn’t, really. But it felt like music.

Then, I turned.

The moment we first saw one another.

The moment we first saw one another. I suppose I would say this is a moment to tell our grandchildren about, but even as young as we still are, I fear we won’t have grandchildren.

But I’ll tell you about it anyway. Or as much as I can. I don’t really know what happened, and she says she doesn’t know either. And believe you me, I have tried to coax the story out of her more times than you have, and she’s got a temper on her, my Gwen.

It happened in an instant. One minute I was sitting in the mead hall, having a drink with my fellows and speculating on next year’s raids, and the next minute I was on top of the Axe Rock. There was a little flash of light from below, and then this beautiful woman was turning toward me.

He fell right on the rock.

That’s right. I looked up, and he was falling right out of the sky, trying to keep his balance and land on his feet. I was proud when he succeeded.

So, no shit; there I was….

So, no shit: there I was! And I was like, well. If the gods dropped me here, I’d better have a go at this axe then.

Really? Do you have to say it like that?

Like what?

Like you would if you were twelve.

Surely you’re not going to scold me about my language. Who’s telling this story? Me. It is my story, and I will say “No shit; there I was” if I like.

I did start the story.

You have a tongue, woman.

Yes. Yes, I do.

Anyway; it’s not like you really need me to tell you the rest of the story; the whole world knows the story now. That was the day I first laid eyes on my Gwen and the day she first laid eyes on me. And of course, I was like, well. If the gods dropped me here, I’d better have a go at this axe then.

It’s my axe now.

It’s my axe now. And that is the tale of how, in one day, in the space of one minute, I met both my destinies. If you were my grandchildren, I’d tell you to go to bed now, and maybe you should even if you’re not my grandchildren.

Good night, Enchantment.

Style Card:Items featured at this King Arthur round of Enchantment, which closes in only a few hours:
Nordic Ritual Platform, Nordic Ritual Altar, and Axe in the Stone: Harshlands, whose note about why they designed the pieces they did inspired me to weave a little story around them.
Moonlight: Puke Rainbows, Sparkling Moonlight
Davey:
Armour: The Scarlet Fae, Valinor
Gwyneth:
Dress, Colar and Armwarmers: Les Sucreries de Fairy, Aveline
Skin: Ritual, Elspeth, Nimue

Something alerted me today. Sometimes, the sounds in our magical forest are more than wind and birds, more than wolves and our own warriors. But it is hard to know where they come from.

And so I scry

And so I scry. I make my way down to the scrying bowl, let the magic rise, toss in the appropriate herbs.

Visitors will come soon.

Visitors. Visitors will come soon. Should we plan a feast? Alert the bards? Should we gather the younglings and prepare a pageant?

Portents….

No, no. Not those kinds of visitors. How heartbreaking to foresee a dark time. So I shall prepare, and wait, and let the magic rise, and hope for a better world.

So should we all.

Enchantment‘s theme this round is Lord of the Rings! Enchantment opens today, Saturday 9 February, at noon SLT. There is so much to see, so many stories to create, so many depths to explore. It’s a massive round with some of the best creators in Second Life contributing, so if you miss it, don’t blame me!

Style Card:Items featured at Enchantment:Scrying Bowl: By Nacht, Mirror of Galadriel
Jewellery: Rivendale, The Evenstar Collection (includes necklace, crown, earrings, and brooch [brooch not pictured here])
Poses: Fashiowl, The Lord of the Rings

I’m not the one who ends up in situations like this. Usually, I hear such stories from The Amazing Catwoman. Her scrapes and follies with insane handlers and crazy situations are great campfire tales, but I would not want to live through them. Of course, she handles these situations with rage, whereas I have always tried to look at the ups and downs of my life with humour—and often it doesn’t matter whether I am laughing at myself, someone else, or the universe as a whole.

Not long ago, I got my chance to experience this level of frustration for myself.

The dock was in poor repair.

The dock was in poor repair. That was the first clue. Even stepping carefully and slowly, some boards had to be avoided altogether.

My senses told me something was awry.

I had been asked to come and tell stories about the stars from the Rom at a planetarium celebration. Now, of course we have many stories about the stars, and I was looking forward to the chance to tell them to an audience not well versed in the affairs of the travelling folk. It was the planetarium’s 25th anniversary, according to the island curator who approached me, and so they wanted not just any Romani, but a “famous” Romani. They told me to come in armour, because the island was largely uninhabited and just below the planetarium, there had been an unfortunate incident where some eccentric’s menagerie had got a bit out of hand. Well, all right, I replied, though armour isn’t really the traditional dress of my people. Don’t worry, they said. You’ll only need it for the walk from the dock to the planetarium; then you can change into something you like better.

I walked through an arch and arrived in a deserted town.

I walked through an arch, as instructed, and arrived in a town that appeared wholly deserted. Of course, there was nothing in the information the curator sent that had even hinted at a completely deserted town.

Deserted for some time?

I surmised that this part of the island, at least, had been deserted for some time: I mean, how often have you seen a town with a pay phone booth that didn’t offer free wifi or credit payments lately?

Still, I shook my head and walked on. There was always the possibility that only this part of the island was deserted. My instructions told me to proceed up a hilly path, then turn right to take the steps up to the planetarium on the island’s highest point. The warning about the menagerie-gone-terribly wrong scenario suggested this was a place of danger and the reason they had insisted I arrive in armour.

I wore armour for this?

By the time I reached the top of the hill, my body was complaining about the dense armour and heavy cloak. I ditched the cloak but kept the armour on, just in case, and soon found myself in the company of two massive stone elephants. I scanned the overgrown, thorn bush-laden area and saw the tops of other stone figures on the train above.

I could not help it: I sat down on a half-broken stone wall and laughed my arse off. I wore armour for this?

A walk up the further steps confirmed it: there were stone zebras, stone antelope, stone tigers, stone lions. It was easy to conjecture a history where someone’s menagerie did indeed go wrong—and then some event changed things and turned all the animals to stone. It could have been That Event We Don’t Talk About, but that was months ago. It is a pity that Dyisi has faded into the mists: she might have some insights about other connected events, possible repercussions, and all those other things I prefer to understand only on a subconscious level.

Sure enough, the planetarium was deserted.

Sure enough, the planetarium was deserted. And not just deserted: it was also falling apart. Inside, the orrery-style mechanism continued to operate, and that gave me pause. Had this event, whatever it was, happened very recently? And if so, how could it be that the disrepair of the planetarium looked to be months if not years old?

Only one thing left to do

In my mind, there was only one thing left to do. I dragged my mostly-new drone out of my backpack and took a selfie in front of the broken-down planetarium to send to the guy who had hired me. Yes, I channeled TAC’s rage and used it for myself.

Then, I just walked back down to the pier, got in the little motorboat, made my way back to the mainland, and got the first transport back to Awenia. I wonder if I’ll hear from that guy.

I know I said something about spending a little time in Awenia Faerie, but the truth is the forest is close enough to touch from there, and the Romani camp is inviting. You hear all these rumours about how there’s never anybody there, but that’s a load of bull. They’re always there: you just don’t see them. That is, unless the vardos have left for other pastures for a little while. But the Awenia Forest Romani are the most settled bunch of travellers I know, and it’s all because the hunting is good and there’s plenty of room, and it being such a magical place, they feel comfortable and at home there.

So, I decided I should put in an appearance.

So, I decided I should put in an appearance. What could it hurt, right? So there I was, walking down the path to the encampment, thinking about mostly nothing, when all of a sudden the smell of a roasting hedgehog came through the trees to me.

Well, that made me want to hurry. After all, getting the best of a roast hedgehog is often down to who’s there first. Hedgehogs aren’t all that big.

So there I go, speeding into the encampment, and as the path widens out into the vardo ring, there are Lash and Timbo, smirking at me.

“Well, look who’s here!” said Lash.

“I don’t see nobody,” replied Timbo.

I rolled my eyes. “Step aside, boys; I smell hedgehog!”

Step aside, boys! I smell hedgehog!

And then Shelta Margaret pipes up from her bench next to the dugout for the clay ovens. “You stop plaguing Davey, boys. He’s late enough as it is.”

Late? “I just got here,” I said. “How can I be late?” Questioning Shelta Margaret is never a good idea, but I just couldn’t help myself.

“Word came down you were in Awenia, what, a moon course ago?” Shelta Margaret narrowed her eyes at me. “This is the twenty-seventh hedgehog I’ve put into the clay oven for you. Boys are about to mutiny, especially since we’re coming up on deer season. ‘Oh, no, Shelta Margaret! Don’t you make us eat no more hedgehog!’ And I just say, ‘I gotta, boys: never know when Davey’s coming through the forest.” And now here you are, clear as morning. Welcome home.”

That makes it sound as if I am going on tour in Awenia. The Author is a bit florid with language today, methinks. (Really? I would never say ‘methinks’.)

No; the fact is, I’d heard through the grapevine about what Queen Gwyneth is doing with Awenia, and despite the fact that we are no longer… well, you know… I still like to check up on her.

She’s made the entry point for Awenia’s faerie in the big dancing square—at least, I hope that’s what it is—and although parts of it remain unfinished, I think she’s done a really passable job so far.

Her Majesty has done a passable job so far.

I was pleasantly surprised, really. I guess in the standard stereotypical view of Queens, Her Majesty isn’t exactly a ‘detail’ person. So the fact that she’s concentrated on getting the big picture worked out first and is obviously waiting to concentrate on the little bits and bobs—or perhaps getting her many minions (not the yellow kind) to do that for her—makes a kind of sense.

View from the Dancing Square

Here is the view from the Dancing Square. Now, I notice all kinds of little things, but as you can see, the big trees are all in, and the landscaping has been done. Of course, she’ll eventually add some ground cover and possibly some smaller trees, but structurally it looks passable to me. And yes, ‘passable’ is a compliment as far as I’m concerned.

I’m glad she kept the music shop.

I’m glad she kept the music shop: it seems to be one of the only features of the previous faerie incarnation that has held on. Now there’s even a little stage propped up on a green near the shop; presumably she will sponsor some performances there—or the music shop will, I guess. I recall there also being a small stage setup inside the shop itself; I wonder if there’ll be differences between the kinds of acts that get booked for one or the other. Something to think about.

Of course, they’d never book me there.

Of course, they’d never book me there. The stampede of women would be unmanageable, given the relatively small size of the green and of Awenia Town itself.

So… where to next?

So… where to next? I ambled down the High Street, passing by a couple of shops and a couple of residential buildings, until I got to the end, where one can turn a corner and find themselves in such unsavoury places as the offices of FaeWatch (how could she allow that rag to have an office in her Realm?), a psychic (obviously not a proper Gypsy psychic), a craft store (seriously?) and a pub, which is more like it. But it was the scene across the wide farm-facing street that caught my eye.

Now this? This is a kissing tree.

Now this? This is a kissing tree if ever I saw one. It’s too bad the Faerie Realm is almost deserted at the moment: I can imagine just standing here and, you know, whistling or singing. I could collect dozens, maybe hundreds of kisses in the span of an hour. Perhaps I shall suggest a Gypsy Davey Kissing Station for a village féte or something.

This little park was truly lovely. It has everything one needs for a good park: beautiful flowers, trees, an ancient structure to bound it from the nearby light forestland, and of course restful benches.

Restful Benches

I can imagine myself, having taken off my coat and letting my shirttails go where they will, reclining, just enjoying the breeze. Hm… I probably need a book here to look more legit, but let’s be honest—I don’t think I even own a book. I’m a lover, not an intellectual.

Ahh… I ended my reverie, as another detail caught my eye, this one completely silly.

Not a full day after I had that weird dream about the talking frog, Bran informed me that we’d received an invitation to the latest theme event for one of my favourite off-Realm faires, Enchantment. And you’ll never guess what the theme is! OK, probably you already guessed, given the title and lead-in here. It’s The Frog Prince. Now, obviously there was going to be lots of fun stuff at this event, so I grabbed Bran, and off we went.

Whoosh! Of course everything there was beautiful. And I might have almost blown the Royal Budget, but when you’re the Queen everything works out for you in the end, so I didn’t worry too much. Weirdly, one of the things I found was a beautiful gown from Silvan Moon Designs. Well, there’s nothing weird about finding a beautiful gown from there…. but it was weird that it exactly matched the dress I’d dreamed about just the night before. Sometimes, my mind astounds even me.

Into the Ruins I skipped!

I also found this stunning dress from Noble Creations, and a nice new crown from Bauhaus Movement that’ll be lovely for autumn, assuming it ever gets here. Helpers were on hand from two of my favourite hairstylists, Analog Dog and No Match. Also weirdly, the new style from Analog Dog was exactly like the one in my dream. Of course I made a deal to have Queue (we’re totally on a first name basis now!) come round to the castle and plait my hair for me sometime in the near future, but once I got the extensions from No Match in, I knew I’d have them in at least for a week. Unless I get bored…. you know how it is.

The Ruins

As Awenia reshapes itself around me, little nooks and crannies are always springing up. This one is built around what appear to be the ruins of an old church, or maybe a monastery. That’s odd in and of itself, since you don’t find many Christian-style churches in Fae lands, but you never know about the history of a place. I also know that many of the demifae like to reclaim lands like this for their own purposes, so maybe that’s what happened here. I loved the little benches; their maker’s mark says they come from Raindale, which doesn’t surprise me at all: I’ll have to find out who sourced those. I recognised two trees as obviously being from Sharni Azalee’s beautiful nursery in The Looking Glass realm: one of them looks just perfect for stealing kisses with Nathaniel when I bring him here later to show him the Ruins. I think he’ll like this part of the Realm. That’s if I can get his attention away from his ongoing Words With Friends games. I swear, for someone to whom technology is completely new, he’s caught on very quickly. Of course, he still describes it as “the library in my trousers,” so maybe we do have a little way to go there.

Bran made me pose like this.

Bran made me pose like this, because he loves the extensions. Here, they are still new so the ends look shiny and perfect. He’s another one who’s embraced technology wholeheartedly. I still can’t get Clutie to log in to the castle computer system, but she says that’s because they don’t make hardware in her size. I just don’t argue with her about it.

Royal Dress, by Noble Creations

Then, he wanted to get another shot of me in the beautiful Royal Dress by Noble Creations. He still wasn’t happy that all the sleeve detail wasn’t showing, so he had to take like five more photographs. If Bran had been raised in a more modern Realm, he’d be a fashion photographer, for sure. He really has an eye for it.

A little closer.

“Now, let me get a little closer to you, Your Majesty,” Bran said. “I want to make sure we have a nice shot of that beautiful crown.”

“Did you know,” I said, trying not to be too self-conscious, “that Bauhaus Movement included this necklace as a gift with the crown? I have no idea how they afford to do that.”

“I guess the best designers just know their markets enough,” he replied, though I could tell he wasn’t really thinking about it too hard.

With every Faire season come parties upon parties. There is always somewhere to go, always a performance to see, people one hasn’t seen in ages to remember why one hasn’t seen them in ages… lots of that.

In fact, sometimes I get downright tired of it all, and so I let The Author take the reins. Now, The Author is of course very similar to me, except that she has different priorities; or at least that’s what she says. I think we have the same priorities and she uses me to live vicariously as a Queen, but that’s neither here or there.

How small we all look!

How small we all look, next to the goddess pool in Nienna. The Author, along with her friend Syeira and consort Nyza, appeared in Willows in matching outfits because they “like dressing up”.

Here they are a little closer-up.

Here the are a little closer up. The Author and Syeira are in matching dresses by MishMash Fusion, in colourways of the designer’s Something True gown appropriately named Syeira (that’s the one of the left) and Gwen (that’s the one on the right). Upon seeing these two colourways, The Author of course said to Syeira that they must take photographs of the two of them together in these gowns, so that’s what they did. Nyza looks very fetching in his Muskateer outfit, but I suspect he was just along for the ride (no pun intended, ew! author kiss germs!)

No better backdrop for a purple dress!

No better backdrop for a purple dress than the almost overwhelming blues of Nienna.

They experimented with various poses.

They experimented with various poses, of course, even though they’re both a bit old to be part of the selfie generation (not that anybody can tell in the Fairelands).

All of our outings have seemed very short this season, which makes me sad. But The Author claims she is exhausted and just has so much to do, and blah, blah, blah. Personally, I think she’s just jealous that I have more fun than she does.

The trees sure are beautiful, though.

The trees sure are beautiful, though.

Style Cards:

Syeira:Body: eBody
Head: GA.EG Barbara
Skin: GA.EG Mia
Gown: MishMash Fusion, Something True, Syeira (Available NOW at the 2018 Relay for Life of Second Life Fantasy Faire, in the Realm of Falls of Hope!)
Hair: Truth, Genesis
Horns: The Plastik, Cepheus Horns (adorned) (Available NOW at the 2018 Relay for Life of Second Life Fantasy Faire, in the Realm of Pools of Ethuil!)
Unicorn headdress: BB4U, Headband 1
Necklace, Earrings, and Headjewel: The Looking Glass, Antique Necklaces Gacha, Gypsy

Gwen:Body: Maitreya
Head: Vista Bento Mesh Head, Lia
Skin: Lumae, Elvi, T1/Neutral (Available NOW at the 2018 Relay for Life of Second Life Fantasy Faire, in Pools of Ethuil!)
Ears: Lumae, Leevi Long Ears
Necklace: RealEvil Industries, Passion Collar
Bracelet: UnRepentant, Titania
Headpiece: The Plastik, Helianne Headdress (Available NOW at the 2018 Relay for Life of Second Life Fantasy Faire, in the Realm of Pools of Ethuil!)
Gown: MishMash Fusion, Something True, Gwen (Available NOW at the 2018 Relay for Life of Second Life Fantasy Faire, in the Realm of Falls of Hope!)
Hair: Truth, Ice